Join us on one of our Open Day Tours.
To book a space on a tour, please contact us on 0333 360 2110 or email us on office@gordonchildrensacademy.org.uk.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health Wellbeing

The mental health of our pupils is equally important as their physical health

Please see the files below for resources to support emotional and mental health.

  • Shout is a new service to support people who are struggling with their mental health.  Shout is the UK’s first free 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place for people to go if they are struggling to cope and you need immediate help.  Anybody can text Shout to 85258 for support.
  • Kooth is a free online service for age 10 and up.   Kooth
  • Childline is a free service which is able to support children to deal with a wide range of problems including online safety issues. Children can contact ChildLine 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if they are struggling to deal with a situation and need support. For children uncomfortable with talking to somebody directly there is a one-to-one online chat service.  https://www.childline.org.uk/

Files to Download:

Well-being Pack30 Day Lego Challenge
Creating a Positive Jar ActivityLife Skills Challenges
My Time Capsule ActivityNature Treasure Box Activity
Brick Therapy ActivitiesEmoji Self Assessment Activity
Emotional Rollercoaster ActivityFeelings Chart
Grounding TechniqueI am an Amazing Person Activity
If I’m Feeling___ I can ActivityMindfulness Challenge Cards
My Choice ChartMy I Can Journal
Social Story – Dave the dogSocial story – Many Ways to Share a Hug
Social Story – Matilda and TheoSocial Story – Stuck Inside
Social Story – Bertrand the Bored and the Imagination JarSocial Story – Talking to Children about COVID19
Social Story – Social DistancingThe Anger Gremlin Story and Activities
Things to Look Forward to ActivityThrough My Window (Free Resource from an Art Therapist)
Understanding Emotions ActivityWhen I’m Anxious I Can Cards
Your Own Jar of Courage Activity 

How to spot the signs:

Depression in children: How to spot the signs

Depression isn’t just for adults, and it isn’t just being ‘a bit sad’. We all feel a bit down sometimes, but if these emotions and ‘feeling low’ last a long time or affect your child’s daily life, then they may have depression.

Depression is a common mental health problem that causes people to experience low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or loss of appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.

The triggers for depression are not fully understood however, various contributing factors can lead to it, these can include biological factors (for example, genetics or experience of physical illness or injury) and psychological or social factors (experiences of bereavement, or life-changing events.)

Spotting signs of depression in a child or young adult signs can be tricky to spot as a lot of these can be shrugged off as ‘just being a kid’, the signs are complex and range from;

  • Persistent sadness
  • Loss of interest in life
  • Tiredness/low energy. If this has been going on for more than a week, a parent should seek help.
  • Extreme moodiness, irritability and volatile behaviour
  • Giving up interests without finding any new ones
  • Showing a lack of interest in school and/or a marked decline in schoolwork
  • Concentration difficulties
  • Losing contact with friends or suddenly embracing new friendships whilst distancing themselves from family
  • Not washing or looking after themselves properly
  • Eating too much or too little
  • Being self-critical and overly worried about appearance
  • Sleeping badly or too much

 

Help and Support

Self-harm in children – How to spot the signs

Self-harming is difficult to talk about but very common, it’s when you hurt yourself on purpose. Usually it’s because something else feels wrong, it seems like the only way to let those feelings out. Self-harming is a symptom of another problem.

Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves as a coping mechanism to deal with difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations.

Self-harming is difficult to talk about but very common, it’s when you hurt yourself on purpose. Usually it’s because something else feels wrong, it seems like the only way to let those feelings out. Self-harming is a symptom of another problem.

Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves as a coping mechanism to deal with difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations.

Some people have described self-harm to express something that is hard to put into words, to change emotional pain into physical pain or have a sense of being in control or to punish themselves for their feelings.

Some of the ways people self-harm are cutting their body, over or under eating, exercising excessively, misusing alcohol, pulling your own hair, hitting yourself or walls.

If you self-harm, it is important that you know how to look after your injuries and that you have access to the first aid equipment you need. LifeSIGNS has information on first aid for self-injury and self-harm.

 

Help and Support

 

Anxiety in children: How to spot the signs

Anxiety is not just feeling shy, it’s bigger and more complex than that, and it’s also a totally normal feeling of fear or panic. When humans face stressful situations it can trigger our ‘gut feeling’, the in-built body alarm bell we have, which tells us when we don’t feel right about something, and we need to deal with it.

Anxiety can kick start our ‘fight or flight’ response, which make us feel more alert, stops us thinking about other things, and even pumps more blood to our legs to help us run away.

Most of us worry and feel anxious sometimes – about things like exams or tests, but once it’s over we usually calm down and feel better. Anxiety becomes a problem when you’re not in a stressful situation, and you still feel worried or panicky.

Below are classic anxiety symptoms, if they get worse or last longer than they should, it might be time to look for some support.

  • feeling nervous, on edge, or panicky all the time
  • feeling overwhelmed or full of dread
  • feeling out of control
  • trouble sleeping
  • low appetite
  • finding it difficult to concentrate
  • feeling tired and grumpy
  • heart beating fast
  • dry mouth
  • trembling
  • feeling faint
  • stomach cramps and/or diarrhea/needing to pee more than usual
  • sweating more than usual
  • wobbly legs
  • Feeling hot

If any of these symptoms are affecting your everyday life, it’s a good idea to tell someone you trust about how you’re feeling.

Help and Support